Ku-ring-gai Council

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian place Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is named after an Aboriginal language group.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Major transport routes through the area include the Pacific Highway and North Shore railway line. Because of its good soils and elevated position as part of the Hornsby Plateau, Ku-ring-gai was originally covered by a large area of dry sclerophyll forest, parts of which still remain and form a component of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. There are also many domestic gardens in the residential parts of Ku-ring-gai.

The Mayor of Ku-ring-gai Council is Cr. Christine Kay, an Independent Liberal politician, elected from amongst her follow councillors in November 2024.

The council comprises an area of 86 square kilometres (33 sq mi), and as at the 2021 census, had an estimated population of 124,076. Ku-ring-gai is the most advantaged area in Australia to live in, at the top of the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs and localities serviced by Ku-ring-gai Council are:<ref>Template:Cite web </ref>

• East Killara
• East Lindfield
• Fox Valley
• Gordon
• Killara
• Lindfield
• North Turramurra
• North Wahroonga
• Pymble
• Roseville (Shared with Willoughby)
• Roseville Chase
• South Turramurra
• St Ives
• St Ives Chase
• Turramurra
• Wahroonga (Shared with Hornsby)
• Warrawee
• West Pymble

Demographics

At the Template:CensusAU, there were 124,076 people in the Ku-ring-gai Council local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.2 per cent of the population, significantly below the national average of 3.2 per cent. The median age of people in the Ku-ring-gai Council area was 42 years; slightly above the national average of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.3 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 60.7 per cent were married and 7.2 per cent were either divorced or separated; a rate that is more than half the national average.

Population growth in the Ku-ring-gai Council area between the Template:CensusAU and the Template:CensusAU was 0.93 per cent and in the subsequent five years to the Template:CensusAU, population growth was 8.13 per cent. At the 2021 census, the population in the Ku-ring-gai Council area increased by 5.1 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.6 per cent, population growth in the Ku-ring-gai local government area is slower than the national average.<ref name="Census2016">Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref> The median weekly income for residents within the Ku-ring-gai Council area was significantly higher than the national average.

At the 2021 census, the area was linguistically diverse, with Asian languages spoken in more than 20 per cent of households; more than four times the national average.

Selected historical census data for Ku-ring-gai Council local government area
Census year		2001<ref name="Census2001">Template:Census 2001 AUS</ref>	2006<ref name="Census2006">Template:Census 2006 AUS</ref>	2011<ref name="Census2011">Template:Census 2011 AUS</ref>	2016<ref name="Census2016"/>	2021<ref>Template:Census 2021 AUS</ref>
Population	Estimated residents on census night	100,152	101,083	109,297	118,053	124,076
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			21Template:Small	Template:Decrease 22Template:Small	Template:Decrease23rd
	% of New South Wales population			1.58%	Template:Steady 1.58%	Template:Steady1.58%
	% of Australian population	0.53%	Template:Loss 0.51%	Template:Steady 0.51%	Template:Decrease 0.50%	Template:Steady0.50%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	English			34.2%	Template:Decrease 32.5%	Template:Decrease 29.6%
	Australian			28.8%	Template:Decrease 25.0%	Template:Decrease 23.0%
	Chinese			11.9%	Template:Increase 17.7%	Template:Increase23.5%
	Irish			10.3%	Template:Decrease 10.3%	Template:Decrease 8.7%
	Scottish			9.6%	Template:Decrease 9.3%	Template:Decrease 8.6%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Cantonese	4.8%	Template:Loss 4.7%	Template:Profit 4.9%	Template:Increase 5.0%	Template:Increase 5.5%
	Mandarin	1.7%	Template:Profit 2.3%	Template:Profit 3.8%	Template:Increase 8.7%	Template:Increase 13.1%
	Korean	1.3%	Template:Profit 1.5%	Template:Profit 2.1%	Template:Increase 2.5%	Template:Steady 2.5%
	Persian (excluding Dari)	n/c	n/c	Template:Profit 0.7%	Template:Increase 1.0%	Template:Increase 1.3%
	Japanese	0.9%	Template:Loss 0.7%	Template:Steady 0.7%	Template:Increase 0.8%	Template:Steady 0.8%
	Hindi				0.7%	Template:Increase 0.9%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	No religion, so described	13.7%	Template:Profit 16.3%	Template:Profit 21.8%	Template:Increase 31.0%	Template:Increase40.8%
	Catholic	20.9%	Template:Profit 21.7%	Template:Loss 21.1%	Template:Decrease 18.9%	Template:Decrease16.6%
	Anglican	28.9%	Template:Loss 27.1%	Template:Loss 23.9%	Template:Decrease 18.8%	Template:Decrease15.2%
	Not stated	n/c	n/c	n/c	Template:Increase 7.7%	Template:Decrease4.1%
	Uniting Church	8.7%	Template:Loss 7.7%	Template:Loss 6.3%	Template:Decrease 4.7%	Template:Decrease3.7%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$716	A$814	A$942	A$1,117
	% of Australian median income		153.6%	141.1%	142.3%	138.8%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$2,147	A$2,679	A$3,046	A$3,447
	% of Australian median income		209.1%	180.9%	175.7%	162.6%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$2,530	A$2,508	A$2,640	A$3,038
	% of Australian median income		216.1%	203.2%	183.6%	174.0%

Council

File:Ku-ring-gaiMC.svg

Map of Ku-ring-gai Council with suburb boundaries, as of 2009.

Current composition and election method

File:Ku-ring-gai wards map.svg

A map of the five wards as of the 2021 local elections.

Ku-ring-gai Council is composed of ten councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing two councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected bi-annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council, while the deputy mayor is elected annually. The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Comenarra Ward	Template:Australian party style|	Jeff Pettett	Independent	Elected 2012 (as Liberal Democrat), Independent from 2017; Deputy Mayor 2018–2019; Mayor 2022–2023.<ref name="Pettet">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="pettettward">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Template:Australian party style|	Matt Devlin	Independent
Gordon Ward	Template:Australian party style|	Barbara Ward	Independent Liberal	Deputy Mayor 2022–2023.<ref name="pettettward"/>
	Template:Australian party style|	Indu Balachandran	Independent
Roseville Ward	Template:Australian party style|	Sam Ngai	Independent Liberal	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2021–2022; Mayor 2023–2024.<ref name="spencerngai">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="SNCK">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Template:Australian party style|	Alec Taylor	Independent
St Ives Ward	Template:Australian party style|	Martin Smith	Independent	Elected 2017.
	Template:Australian party style|	Christine Kay	Independent Liberal	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2023–2024; Mayor 2024–present.<ref name="SNCK"/>
Wahroonga Ward	Template:Australian party style|	Cedric Spencer	Independent Liberal	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2020–2021; Mayor 2021–2022.<ref name="spencerngai"/><ref name="spencer">Template:Cite news</ref>
	Template:Australian party style|	Kim Wheatley	Independent	Deputy Mayor 2024–present

Council history

Ku-ring-gai was first incorporated on 6 March 1906 as the "Shire of Ku-ring-gai" and the first Shire Council was elected on 24 November 1906. The first leader of the council was elected at the first meeting on 8 December 1906, when Councillor William Cowan was elected as Shire President. There would not be a Deputy President until the council election on 1 March 1920.

On 22 September 1928, the Shire of Ku-ring-gai was proclaimed as the "Municipality of Ku-ring-gai" and the titles of 'Shire President' and 'Councillor' were retitled to be 'Mayor' and 'Alderman' respectively. In 1993, with the passing of a new Local Government Act, council was retitled as simply "Ku-ring-gai Council" and aldermen were retitled as councillors.<ref name=utc>Template:Cite book</ref>

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Ku-ring-gai Council and parts of the Hornsby Shire north of the M2 merge to form a new council with an area of Template:Convert and support a population of approximately 270,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Ku-ring-gai Council took the NSW Government to court and, on appeal, the NSW Court of Appeal found that the council had been denied procedural fairness. The proposed merger was stood aside indefinitely.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Planning and development

File:Apartments, 5-9 Woodside Avenue, Lindfield, New South Wales (2010-12-04).jpg

Apartments (circa 2008) in Lindfield

During the term of former Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, planning law reforms were passed that gave development approval to a panel and away from local government. These new laws were controversially implemented in Ku-ring-gai, with immense opposition from the local population who claim that their suburbs, with nationally recognised heritage values in both housing and original native forest, are being trashed by slab-sided apartment developments with no effective protection provided by either the Ku-ring-gai Council or the state government. This has been termed "The Rape of Ku-ring-gai".<ref name=abc.net.au>Template:Cite web</ref>

The laws are intended to take development approval power away from local councils and to the Planning NSW, via the development panels. Planning panels are about to be introduced across New South Wales under recently passed planning reforms. In 2005–06, Ku-ring-gai had the second highest reported total development value in the state – A$1.7 billion, more than Parramatta, second only to the City of Sydney.

Shire Clerks, Town Clerks and General Managers

Name	Term	Notes
Edward Astley	21 June 1906 – 31 August 1911	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
James A. Gilroy	1 September 1911 – March 1925	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Arthur Havelock Hirst	March 1925 – 18 November 1947	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Norman L. Griffiths	18 November 1947 – 22 September 1969	Template:Citation needed
Frederick E. Newton	22 September 1969 – 5 October 1970	Template:Citation needed
Graham Joss	5 October 1970 – 16 August 1971	Template:Citation needed
Lyndhurst Evelyn Whalan	16 August 1971 – 12 November 1973	Template:Citation needed
Warren Taylor	12 November 1973 – 1993	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Joseph Robert Diffen	1993–1997	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Rhonda Bignell	1997–2002	Template:Citation needed
Brian Bell	2002 – February 2006	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Better source needed
John McKee	March 2006 – 15 August 2023	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
David Marshall	3 May 2024 – present	<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Heritage listings

Ku-ring-gai Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Gordon, 17 McIntosh Street: Eryldene, Gordon<ref name=nswshr-19>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Gordon, Middlemiss Street: Gordon railway station, Sydney<ref name=nswshr-1150>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Gordon, 691 Pacific Highway: Iolanthe, Gordon<ref name=nswshr-227>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Gordon, 707 Pacific Highway: Tulkiyan<ref name=nswshr-1733>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Gordon, 799 Pacific Highway: Gordon Public School (former)<ref name=nswshr-757>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Killara, 13 Kalang Avenue: Harry and Penelope Seidler House<ref name=nswshr-1793>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Killara, 1 Werona Avenue: Woodlands, Killara<ref name=nswshr-1762>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Lindfield, 33 Tryon Road: Tryon Road Uniting Church<ref name=nswshr-1672>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Pymble, Pacific Highway: Pymble Reservoirs No. 1 and No. 2<ref name=nswshr-1632>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref><ref name=nswshr-1633>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Pymble, 982-984 Pacific Highway: Pymble Substation<ref name=nswshr-940>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Pymble, 29 Telegraph Road: Eric Pratten House<ref name=nswshr-1443>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Turramurra, 17 Boomerang Street: Ingleholme<ref name=nswshr-71>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Turramurra, 43 Ku-Ring-Gai Avenue: Cossington (Turramurra)<ref name=nswshr-1763>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 62 Boundary Road: Jack House, Wahroonga<ref name=nswshr-1910>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 69-71 Clissold Road: Rose Seidler House<ref name=nswshr-261>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 61-65 Coonanbarra Road: St John's Uniting Church, Wahroonga<ref name=nswshr-1670>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 16 Fox Valley Road: Purulia, Wahroonga<ref name=nswshr-184>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 69 Junction Road: Evatt House<ref name=nswshr-1711>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, North Shore railway: Wahroonga railway station<ref name=nswshr-1280>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 1526 Pacific Highway: Mahratta, Wahroonga<ref name=nswshr-708>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 1678 Pacific Highway and Woonona Avenue: Wahroonga Reservoir<ref name=nswshr-1352>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 23 Roland Avenue: Simpson-Lee House I<ref name=nswshr-1800>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>
• Wahroonga, 14 Woonona Avenue: The Briars, Wahroonga<ref name=nswshr-274>Template:Cite NSW SHR</ref>

Sports in area

Cricket and Rugby union are the most popular sports in the area, and the Ku-ring-gai Council LGA is represented by the Gordon District Cricket Club, and the Gordon Rugby Football Club, who both play primarily at Chatswood Oval, in the nearby City of Willoughby.

In Rugby League Ku-ring-gai council falls within the district of the North Sydney Bears (The only NRL club without representation to have a junior rugby league district, although there have been ongoing efforts to resurrect the club to the top flight), the team is officially known as the North Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, and clubs compete in a joint district competition with clubs within the districts of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, and teams in the competition either play with a Bears or Sea Eagles logo on their jersey, in order to signal whether they belong in the district of the Bears or Sea Eagles, and the Ku-ring-gai LGA is represented by the Ku-ring-gai Cubs, who primarily play their home games at Memorial Park in Turramurra

See also

• Local government areas of New South Wales
• WildThings, a 2004 urban fauna translocation program

External links

• Ku-Ring-Gai Council
• Ku-Ring-Gai Art Centre and Gallery Artabase page Template:Webarchive